Parental control systems for television allows parents to lock certain programs or groups of programs based on blocking criteria such as a title, channel, ratings information, content, etc. When a program is locked, the parent could create a parental control personal identification number (PIN). When it is time for the locked program to be broadcast, the system asks the parent to enter the parental control PIN. The system blocks the display of the locked program unless the correct parental control PIN is provided.
Internet service providers such as AOL provide for some form of parental control by allowing parents to create a unique screen name for their child that becomes the child's online identity and e-mail address that enables communication via e-mail, chat, message boards, Instant Messaging, and games. The parent then can select a general level of access for the child. Currently, AOL has three categories for parental control: 1. “Kids Only” for kids 12 years and under that restricts children to certain areas of AOL and the internet accessible via AOL; 2. “Young Teen” for kids between the ages of 13 and 15 provides more freedom than “Kids Only” but does not provide full access to content or interactive features; and 3. “Mature Teen” for kids between that ages of 16 and 17 that allows access to all content on AOL and the internet, except specific sites deemed for adult audiences.
Satellite radio operators are providing digital radio broadcast services covering the entire continental United States. These services offer approximately 100 channels, of which nearly 50 channels in a typical configuration provides music with the remaining stations offering news, sports, talk and data channels. Digital radio may also be available in the near future from conventional analog radio broadcasters that will provide a terrestrial based system using signals co-located in the AM and FM bands.
Satellite radio has the ability to improve terrestrial radio's potential by offering a better audio quality, greater coverage and fewer commercials. Accordingly, in October of 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted two national satellite radio broadcast licenses. The FCC allocated 25 megahertz (MHZ) of the electromagnetic spectrum for satellite digital broadcasting, 12.5 MHz of which are owned by Sirius Satellite Radio and 12.5 MHz of which are owned by the assignee of the present application “XM Satellite Radio Inc.”
The system plan for each licensee presently includes transmission of substantially the same program content from two or more geosynchronous or geostationary satellites to both mobile and fixed receivers on the ground. In urban canyons and other high population density areas with limited line-of-sight (LOS) satellite coverage, terrestrial repeaters will broadcast the same program content in order to improve coverage reliability. Some mobile receivers will be capable of simultaneously receiving signals from two satellites and one terrestrial repeater for combined spatial, frequency and time diversity, which provides significant mitigation of multipath interference and addresses reception issues associated with blockage of the satellite signals.
In accordance with XM Satellite Radio's unique scheme, the 12.5 MHZ band is split into 6 slots. Four slots are used for satellite transmission. The remaining two slots are used for terrestrial reinforcement.
In accordance with the XM frequency plan, each of two geostationary satellites transmits identical or at least similar program content. The signals transmitted with QPSK modulation from each satellite (hereinafter satellite 1 and satellite 2). For reliable reception, the LOS signals transmitted from satellite 1 are received, reformatted to Multi-Carrier Modulation (MCM) and rebroadcast by terrestrial repeaters. The assigned 12.5 MHZ bandwidth (hereinafter the “XM” band) is partitioned into two equal ensembles or program groups A and B. Each ensemble is transmitted by each satellite on a separate radio frequency (RF) carrier. Each RF carrier can support 50 channels or more of music, talk or data in Time Division Multiplex (TDM) format.
Thus, in a digital audio radio system such as the system described above, a need exists for a device that enables a user to intelligently disable channels or portions of channels containing undesired content among the many channels that are available. A need further exists for a feature in such a system that gives the user an easy way to disable or enable the undesired type of content.